Dear friend! It appears that Belenin's decision regarding his "walk" has already been made, judging by the letter that Grigory forwarded to me today. And the timeframe is extremely short! Yet at the same time, we absolutely must correspond and come to an understanding with him: this matter is now incredibly important. Therefore I earnestly and most urgently request that you take every measure to meet personally with Belenin, convey to him everything that follows below, and write to me (without fail!) frankly and thoroughly how things stand—that is, whether there are disagreements, divergences, etc. between us and Belenin, and which ones (and how to eliminate them if they exist) or whether there are none.

The removal of James (on this removal I urgently request you not to breathe a word to a single person abroad: you cannot imagine how dangerous idle chatter on these themes is in every respect and in connection with such events)—the removal of James makes the situation critical and puts once again on the agenda the question of the general plan of work.

* This letter is a postscript to a letter by N. K. Krupskaya. —Ed.